


Adoption

by Stripe



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alpha Universe, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-12
Updated: 2015-01-12
Packaged: 2018-03-07 08:21:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,845
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3168026
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stripe/pseuds/Stripe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jade English prepares her legacy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [crushinator](https://archiveofourown.org/users/crushinator/gifts).



> For Ladystuck 2014! This was the prompt:
> 
> "I want a story about Alpha Jade before she finds Jake. Why does she want to fight Cocker Corps? What does she do to get to where she is in canon? Does she know any of the other alpha guardians? What is her relationship with John like? Does she know his son? I would really really like some corporate intrigue, politics, A FAILED YET AMAZINGLY PLANNED REVOLUTION, whatever up in this as long as Jade is front and center and kicking all the asses. And ANYTHING, ANYTHING to do with her relationship with the Batterwitch. Yes. Please. Purr purr purr."
> 
> I tried to answer as many of these questions as possible with this fic while still adding in a (hopefully) interesting twist on the alpha universe!
> 
> Also apologies for now that this isn't very tightly edited - I had enough trouble finishing everything on time, let alone tidying it up. I promise that sometime in the near future I will update this fic with a new and improved version.

To the general public, the meeting might have seemed odd. John Crocker, noted comedian, was sitting at a café with Jade English, famous genius and business tycoon. Her company, Skaianet, was one of the only companies which seemed to stand a chance against the growing influence of Crocker Corp – to which John was, technically, the heir.

But of course, that was how Jade liked it. She had done her best, over her fifty years of being on her own, to eliminate all traces of the fact that she had once reluctantly called Betty Crocker her mother. She had taken on a new surname, a new identity, and refused all traces of the color red. Her only remaining connection to her childhood sat in front of her. If Jade had only been focused on tactics, she would have cut ties to her brother long ago – but no matter how hard she tried to distance herself, sentimentality brought her back.

No, sentimentality wasn’t quite the word. In some ways, it felt more like destiny. 

“So,” John said, hands curled around the cup of coffee in front of him. “How have things been recently? How’s the company?”

Jade sighed, and cast a quick look around the café. She knew John meant well, but she also knew that he was under constant surveillance. She would have to lose herself in a crowd once she was done here, but for now, it was unavoidable. “You know I can’t discuss company secrets.”

“Well. Don’t give me secrets, then. Maybe a thumbs up or down? Wobbly hand if things are unsure?” He wobbled his own hand to demonstrate. Jade laughed and gave him a thumbs up.

“We’re doing well,” she told him. “But you’ll just have to wait and see how well until our numbers go public for this quarter!”

“Uh, yeah, forgive me if I don’t do that. The stock exchange is like the most boring thing on the planet. I can’t even come up with jokes about them that’s how boring it is.”

For some reason, Jade thought of skyscrapers and lava, but she brushed it off. She always made inexplicable connections between unlike things – she chose to take it as being symptomatic of her genius. “OK, so don’t look! But anyways, how are things with you? Is comedy going well?”

“Yeah! I’m actually in talks right now about getting a TV gig but,” he looked suspiciously off to the side, as though somebody other than Crocker agents might be listening in, “you don’t know anything about that, OK?”

Jade mimed a zipper going across her lips and smiled. “Don’t worry. Your secret is safe with me. What about your private life? Are you still dating that actress?”

John suddenly looked sheepish, reaching up to scratch the back of his head. “No, not anymore. Eventually her weird thing about spiders got a little _too_ weird, you know? Actually, I adopted a kid.”

That came as a shock. Both she and John were in their sixties – it hardly seemed like the ideal time to be adopting a child. “Really? I… well, I don’t want to sound rude, but I am kind of curious as to why!”

“Well, at this point it doesn’t look like I’m going to be having a kid of my own,” he explained. “And Mom adopted us. I figured that I might as well give some other kid a home like we got.”

“Our home wasn’t exactly nice, John,” Jade could feel her face contorting into a scowl. “I ran away at thirteen and still did a better job of raising myself than she ever did.”

“Well, maybe that’s also part of it. I don’t know if I’m going to be a great dad, but… I think I can be better than a lot of dads. I can give my son a better life. That’s all I want to do.” A pause. “Besides, I’m not going to live forever. Crocker Corp needs an heir. I might as well make sure that it’s somebody I raise, right?”

John didn’t say it out loud – couldn’t say it out loud – but Jade knew what he meant. He was good-hearted, if a little goofy. Better the heir come from him than to have Crocker handpick somebody just as nasty and cruel as she was.

“Right,” Jade agreed. “You need to prepare your own future, right?”

“So what about you?” John asked. “Anybody special in your life? Like a boyfriend or girlfriend or… I don’t know. Anybody but business people?”

“Not really. I guess I am pretty close with my Research and Development team, though!”

“Those are science people, Jade,” John said, making a face. “They don’t count! Don’t you feel a bit lonely?”

Jade shrugged. “Not usually.”

“I just worry about you sometimes.”

“I’m fine, John. You don’t need to worry about me. Really.”

\----

That evening, Jade dreamt that she was still talking to John, only they were both kids again and his words were somehow blue and lowercase.

jade, he said. i think i am adopted.

When Jade responded, she spoke in green.

adopted? :o what makes you say that?

i don’t know! i guess it is just that my dad won’t say anything about my mom. and i do not think it is one of those situations like in the movies where his wife died in a tragic accident.  
jade, i do not think that my father ever married at all!

:o!!! but why does that mean you are adopted?

well… i guess it IS possible that he and my mom did not get married and that she didn’t want me so he took me instead but…  
i also don’t look much like him?  
he shaves all the time but i can tell from his eyebrows that he is blond, and my hair is really dark.  
plus, he is a lot paler than i am! so i think i may be adopted.

are you upset by that? :(

not really? he is still my dad and i still love him. even if his love of cake and jesters is a little excessive and honestly a little weird!  
but yeah. i guess i kind of wonder who my biological parents are but it isn’t important.  
my dad is my dad no matter what.

:) i am sure he feels the same way!

She woke up, unable to figure out why the conversation rang so familiar. It could never have happened – after all, John never had a father, adopted or otherwise. But it felt like a memory all the same.

As she tried to fall asleep again, she considered her real conversation with John – the one that had actually happened. How he had adopted a son as insurance that the future would be a little less terrible.

John wouldn’t live forever, and neither would Jade. She would die one day. She would die, but Betty Crocker would not. She needed to secure her own future.

After all, if Crocker Corp could have an heir, then why not Skaianet?

\-----

Jade went to the orphanage with only a few qualifiers in mind. She wanted a child she could start teaching immediately, meaning a kid over the age of six. She was already starting to feel the weight of her age settling in on her body, and she could not afford to waste time on teaching a child to speak. She needed a child who would be driven, who would be able to understand, one day, the weight of the task she was to be burdening them with.

Unsurprisingly, most of them were unimpressive. They commented on her age or babbled about the sports that they liked – and as much as Jade hated to crush the hope in their eyes for the shot at a home, those weren’t the kind of children she needed.

Thankfully, her best option presented herself very quickly.

“What is a CEO doing here?” the girl asked. She couldn’t have been much older than seven or eight, but her violet eyes glinted with a sharpness that was unmistakable. Jade smiled.

“And how do you know I’m a CEO, girly?” she asked.

“I read the newspapers. Sometimes they have your picture.”

“You seem awful young to be reading newspapers!”

The girl shrugged. “I wasn’t aware there was an age limit on knowing world events.”

Jade threw her head back to laugh. “I guess you’re right. What’s your name?”

“Rose Lalonde,” she responded, straightening up as she said it. “Though I suppose my last name would change if you chose to adopt me.”

Hello. My name is Rose. And what should I call you, miss Gnostic?

Jade shook her head. “I’m not in the business of forcing names onto people,” she assured her. “You’ll stay a Lalonde as long as you want to be a Lalonde. And anyhow, I’m looking for a successor more than I am a daughter.”

“I suppose that’s understandable,” Rose said.

“Do you think you’re up for the task?”

Jade was well aware that she was asking a big question of a girl Rose’s age, but somehow, she felt certain that this little girl could handle it. Rose took her time answering, but Jade didn’t mind, instead watching the way her lips twitched as the gears of her mind churned.

“I don’t want to sound cocky,” she said finally, “but I think that I am more capable than anybody else here. I read more books.”

“Reading is good,” Jade agreed. It was hardly the only qualification for running a company, but Rose’s self-confidence was enough. “And would you want to go with me? You would live and travel with me all the time. It wouldn’t be a normal childhood.”

“I’ve never known what a normal childhood was like,” Rose said, “so I don’t think I can miss it. However, if you want to adopt me- I do have one condition.”

Jade raised her eyebrows. Interesting. Though she could read Rose’s eagerness in the straightness of her posture, the brightness of her eyes, she was willing to risk not being adopted to set her own terms.

“Name your terms.”

“There’s another kid here. A boy. His name is David. David Strider. I want him to come with me. You’re more than wealthy enough to support the both of us, and I promise I will keep him in line for you.”

yeah don’t call me godhead that just sounds like i got some sort of complex that tt wants to psychoanalyze and seriously lets not give her more ideas  
just dave is fine

“Accepted,” Jade said. “I’ll speak to them about paperwork. Do you know how long it will take to process?”

Rose laughed quietly, hiding her mouth behind her hand. “As fast as they can manage it. I think they’ll be glad to be rid of us.”


	2. Chapter 2

Rose was correct – the papers were filed quickly, and the woman who ushered the two children off with Jade wished her good luck.

Neither of them had many belongings. Rose brought a collection of about ten books – including Narnia and Lord of the Rings – all of which had all been thoroughly read and earmarked. Dave had a similar collection of cassette tapes, with the labels on them long since worn off, though evidently the stereo he’d used to play them was property of the orphanage. Upon hearing that, Jade made a stop at the electronics store on the way home to buy him a Walkman and a set of headphones. His eyes lit up, and he was silent the rest of the car ride home, though his head quietly bobbed along to the beat.

Jade quickly learned that this was one of the very few times that Dave was silent. If he wasn’t engrossed in some activity, he was usually talking to anybody who would listen, describing the things around them in extended metaphors that stopped relating to the thing he was originally talking about. Rose either pointedly ignored him as she tried to reread the Two Towers, or she challenged him with metaphors of her own, writing poetry to mock him on the spot.

She could see why Rose had wanted him to come with her. The two were both strange children, but they understood each other, in their own way. At any rate, the house was certainly more lively with them around. 

Jade’s dreams took an odd turn, which was interesting, because they had always been odd. She had always had dreams of golden towers and white dogs and black devil beasts, and of her brother floating as though he was weightless. This time, the dreams felt the same, but they included her new charges.

Jade was thirteen again, and she was standing in front of Rose, who was also thirteen. 

I should have gone looking for her. Why didn’t I?

Jade didn’t need to ask - she knew that Rose was speaking about her mother. 

because you were busy trying to make the best of this situation?

I never believed she would actually die. I grew up with the feeling that something significant had always been meant for her. I think she was just waiting for me to catch up to her. But now I can’t. 

i just hope you arent thinking of doing something rash

I already have.

And suddenly Rose screamed and went gray, and she turned to ash. Jade turned around to find Dave behind her. He looked thirteen as well, but he glowed orange, and seemed to have traded out legs for wings.

so here lies my bro i guess  
one of the baddest motherfuckers ever to live but now hes dead so  
i guess hes just a badass corpse if thats even a thing you can be

Jade felt her heart breaking for him, and she reached out to hold his hand. For a moment, he considered taking it, but in the end he pulled away. 

ill be honest he was sort of a shitty guardian he ambushed me on the daily just to get his jollies off and the whole puppet shtick was pretty fucking weird but  
he also saved my life more times than i can count  
and i couldnt even return the favor when it fucking mattered so  
thats life i guess

jade

Jade blinked. That felt wrong somehow. 

hey grandma jade wake up 

Jade’s eyes snapped open, and she was met with a pair of eyes, staring down at her in the darkness. It took every ounce of her self control not to launch the unexpected guest across the room.

“Hey. Grandma? Are you awake?”

With a groan, Jade sat up, displacing Dave a little bit to her right. “What is it, Dave?” she asked. “And how many times have I told you not to call me ‘Grandma’? I’m not that old yet.” Of course, that was a lie - if Jade had given birth to kids of her own in her twenties or thirties, then it was reasonable that she could have had grandkids by now. But she wasn’t about to settle down and let the next generation take over. Not yet.

“But your hair is gray.”

“Your hair would be gray too if you lived my life.” A pause, and she squinted at him through the darkness. “Why are you here?”

Dave looked down suddenly, avoiding her eyes. Jade wasn’t sure that she had ever seen him look so sheepish before.

“I had a nightmare,” he admitted. 

“About what?”

It was another long moment before he answered. “A black dog. With wings and a sword. I was fighting him.”

“Are you scared?” Jade guessed. Dave nodded. “What about Rose? Why didn’t you wake her up?”

“She’s here too,” Dave said, and he gestured at the doorway, where Jade could see a small head of blonde hair poking out. She let out a sigh.

“Rose, come in,” Jade said, and the girl carefully made her way inside. Even through the dim light, it was clear Rose was struggling to make her face impassive, though the rest of her body language practically screamed terror. Jade patted an empty spot on the sheets next to Dave, beckoning her forward. ”Come up here. Did you have a nightmare too?”

Rose nodded, clambering up onto Jade’s bed. “I did. It was also about the black dog. I was fighting him, on terrain that looked to be a chessboard. My skin was gray. I was angry.”

Jade heaved out a slow sigh. The dog sounded all too familiar, but she would have to figure out the significance of all three of them sharing a nighttime demon later. For now, there were two kids to comfort. 

“Don’t worry about him,” Jade assured the both of them. “He’s just… a demon who haunts dreams. His name is Bec Noir.” She didn’t know how the name came so easily to her, but it felt right. “He likes to sneak into the dreams of good little boys and girls to try and scare them. But remember, he can’t hurt you. He only has power if you let him have power. Don’t forget that.”

“Doesn’t stop him from being fuc- freaking terrifying, though,” Dave said. Without asking, he had already crawled over Jade so that he could burrow under the covers next to him.

“Language,” Jade warned.

“Surely there must be a way to defeat him,” Rose continued, following Dave’s example. “Perhaps there is some magical artifact somewhere in the dream world, and only the true of heart can find it. Of course, it can only be earned by going through many trials and tribulations, because Noir is tricky. But I’m sure that with some perseverance, we could hope to defeat him.” 

Jade couldn’t help a grin. “That’s quite the story, Rose. Maybe you should write it down someday.”

Rose yawned, and pulled the blanket over her head. “Maybe.” And within another moment, she was out.

It was admittedly somewhat hard to get back to sleep after that. Jade didn’t dare move a muscle, lest she wake up one of the sleeping children, curled into her side for protection. And more than that, it appeared that Dave was quite the sleep talker. No, she didn’t manage to nod off until the lights on her digital clock flashed 4:13 - and unfortunately, she was set to wake up almost two hours later, when Dave and Rose woke up ready for breakfast. 

Jade was missing her quiet nights, certainly, but she wouldn’t trade back Dave and Rose for the world. 

\-----

 

Jade had never been happier for her brother’s chosen career path as a family-friendly comedian than now. She didn’t stand out, bringing Dave and Rose to see a John Crocker stand up routine. Her clout as the CEO of SkaiaNet was enough to ensure she got backstage tickets, for after the show, but for now, she was just glad to have a chance to see her brother in his element. 

His comedy was light-hearted, never singling anybody out for ridicule. If he criticized anything, they were easy targets, like airline food or the DMV. On occasion, he threw in a magic trick, just to keep the audience on their toes. Jade, of course, knew the trick behind every sleight of hand. Even if it was years ago, she could clearly remember helping him learn his tricks, going through book after book to find the most impressive magic he could.

But Dave and Rose were enchanted. Rose, naturally, viewed his tricks with the sort of calculating glance that let Jade know she was trying to see through the magic - but even still, there was a glimmer of hope in her eyes, as though she wanted to believe that perhaps he truly was a magician. Dave, on the other hand, just sat there in awe. Jade wasn’t sure she had seen him so reverent before. 

Jade brought the three of them backstage, flashing the tickets at the guard. She gave him a quick look-over, trying to answer one question - CrockerCorp employee or not? Much to her chagrin, they were ushered off to see John before she could determine which it was. She was losing her touch.

When they reached John’s dressing room, his face broke out into a grin, showing the buckteeth he had never really grown into. “Jade! I wasn’t expecting to see you. But I guess now I know what they meant when they told me I had a guest of honor.” He chuckled, then looked down to Rose and Dave. “Are these… your kids?”

“Yep!” Jade beamed, placing a hand on each of the blonde’s shoulders so that she could push them forward. “You talked about adopting your son the last time we met, and I was starting to think that the house was getting kind of quiet. So here we are. Rose, Dave, say hello.”

“Hello,” said Rose, quiet, shy in a way that Jade had never seen before.

“Sup,” said Dave, nodding at John like they were old acquaintances already, like he wasn’t brimming with excitement to meet him. Jade had to stop herself from laughing. 

“Hey, it’s nice to meet you!” John said, leaning down so that he was closer to their eye level. “What did you think of the show?”

“It was the bomb,” Dave said, puffing up his chest a little. “Like, seriously rad.”

“How did you do the part with the bird?” Rose asked, starting to pull some of her brother’s bravado into herself. “What was the trick? I don’t understand how you could get it to be so well trained to fly out at just the right moment…”

“Hey, it wasn’t a trick!” John said, indignant. “It was magic! That is my 100% guarantee.”

Rose held the face of somebody who very much wanted to believe the lie they knew they were being sold.

John continued to chat with the kids, and Jade was more than glad to step back and let him take the lead in the conversation. Somehow, he seemed to have a knack for this sort of thing, though she didn’t understand how. It wasn’t as though he could follow his mother’s example for how to talk to kids, after all. 

Yet, something about it also felt… natural. For a small moment, she felt as though her life was complete. It was just the four of them there, but it was right, and it was whole. Just as it should have been.

hey guys! i figured out how to make a group chat! :o isnt it cool??

yeah this is all kinds of rad jade  
now both of you can see me take down johns shitty movie opinions in real time  
this is gonna be almost as good as watching that old boxer in the movie getting his ass handed to him by the other guy in the usa trunks  
like that fuckers so into the stars and stripes that he wants them nestled against his ass cheeks at literally all hours of the day

I believe you may be rooting for the wrong side of that match, Dave.

no way

dave, gross!  
anyways this is awesome jade!! now we can all hang out at once! i cant wait!  
though i think that you will all find that my movie opinions are not shitty and that dave is the one who has bad taste in movies!

:o!!!

Well, gentlemen.  
The game, as I believe they say it, is on.

 

Just before they left, John pulled her in for a tight hug. Jade was surprised for a moment, but then she felt his breath at the shell of her ear. “Keep them safe.”

John pulled away too quickly for Jade to have the opportunity to ask for clarification, but as she caught the eye of the guard on the way back, she realized she didn’t need it.


	3. Chapter 3

Jade let out a heavy sigh as she wiped the sparse splatter of blood from her glasses. Her shot gun was already back safely in the living room, where it belonged, and the body of the Crockercorp assassin was likely already dissolving in the vat of chemicals she kept in the basement for that very purpose. Sitting in the kitchen were two children who were no doubt traumatized, but Jade figured she should at least clean herself off before she started this conversation. Nothing like having your legal guardian splattered in a dead man’s blood to calm the nerves.

She examined her appearance once more in the mirror to make sure she didn’t look like a killer before she walked out to the kitchen table. Both of their faces were passive, but Rose was wringing her hands, and Dave’s leg was bouncing at a rate of about 60 bpm. Try though they might, they couldn’t help but look like anything other than two scared children. 

She sat down, offering them a smile, though she wasn’t sure it helped. “I’m sorry you had to see that,” she told them. “It’s been a while since she last took out a hit on me. Figured she’d given up, but I guess she was trying to lure me into a false sense of security. Well, joke’s on her.”

There was a weighted pause before Rose finally asked - “Who’s her?”

“Betty Crocker. My corporate rival.” Jade let out a deep sigh. “Also my mother! But by technicality only - I ran away when I was thirteen. She is literally evil.”

Dave and Rose both looked at each other, as though trying to gauge how much they could trust Jade’s judgment. She supposed she couldn’t blame them - they had just seen her whip out a rifle and murder somebody without a moment’s hesitation. 

“How evil?” was Dave’s eventual question. “Like. Kick puppies evil? Or about to kill literally everybody evil?”

“That last one,” Jade said. “I don’t know when she’s planning to do it, just that her eventual goal is to take over the earth and flood it.”

“How, though? Like, did she just walk up and tell you?”

Jade let out a heavy sigh. She knew how crazy she sounded sometimes, talking about this. But it wasn’t as though she could just magically make the truth sound less outlandish. “She raised me for thirteen years. I stumbled upon some of the documents that listed her plans. The first step is to get the world financially ensnared by her company, and once that happens, she’ll be able to render us powerless. That’s why SkaiaNet is here. If I can stop her from getting economic dominance, then I can stop her from destroying everything.”

Dave still looked a little skeptical, which Jade couldn’t blame him for. Rose, however, was nodding along, as though she already knew what Jade was talking about. 

“You believe me?” she asked Rose, incredulous.

“Yes, of course. You would know better than anybody about your corporate rival. Not to mention that you’re clearly quite the capable business woman and scientist. I don’t think you would believe something like this unless you had seen it with your own eyes.” She looked to Dave, then. “Besides, I think the fact that people are out to kill her means that she’s onto something, don’t you?”

Dave nodded slowly, seeming to accept this. Jade had to admit she was impressed - usually eight year olds were not nearly so persuasive. Once again, she was reassured by her choice to adopt Rose.

“Exactly,” Jade agreed. “I’m sorry I didn’t warn you about the assassins beforehand. I thought she had given up on killing me. But from now on, I want to make sure that the both of you have combat training. Are there any weapons you’re interested in picking up?”

“Sword,” said Dave immediately. Jade laughed, mostly surprised by the certitude with which he chose his weapon.

“A sword is a good choice,” she said. “What about you, Rose?”

Rose set her chin in her hand, taking time to ponder her answer. Finally, she spoke. “Knitting needles.”

Jade’s eyebrows shot up. “Knitting needles? That’s an interesting choice.”

“Well, they’re sharp and they’re nimble. It would be easy to cut somebody’s throat or to stab an eye out, with training. Plus they are easy to conceal in public if need be.”

Jade grinned, bursting with pride. “Clever! Very clever!”

“Plus,” Rose added. “They look a bit like wands, don’t they?”

\------

Jade could feel her frown lines growing deeper as she watched the television. Crockercorp was giving a press conference about some brand new technology - a new music player, a high definition television set, even a personal computer that ran much smoother and had many more functions than the clunky things currently on the market. The company representative also rambled on about phone lines, and how these new computers would be ready to connect to a global network once it was available - and according to her, that would be sooner than people were expecting. 

Overall, it was a fantastic conference. The reporters were going wild with questions, crowing about how Crockercorp was truly bringing forth the future. If Jade hadn’t known better, she would have been excited along with them. The new music player would have been a perfect birthday gift for Dave, and she had been eager to see the computer networks for herself. But the fact that this was coming from Crocker - both her corporate rival and the biggest threat to the survival of the human race - meant that all she could do was worry. 

Rose strolled in as it seemed the conference was wrapping up and sat down next to Jade. “What’s wrong?” she asked. “You seem upset.”

Jade was, as always, surprised by Rose’s intuition. “Crockercorp just unveiled a lot of new products,” she said. “It’s going to be hard to match.”

Rose glanced at the TV for a moment, studying it carefully. Then, much to Jade’s suprise, she said - “They’re not done yet.”

“What?”

“The conference isn’t done yet. At the very end, they’re going to announce the creation of Crocker studios. She’s going to start making movies.”

Jade shook her head. “No way. There’s no way that she can start that up with all the new tech she’s pushing, she can’t have the resources-” But before she could finish the thought, the representative on the TV spoke.

“And just one last thing before we go. Crockercorp is branching out into an exciting new territory. Within the coming fiscal year, we will be opening the doors to Crocker Studios-”

Jade turned the TV off quickly, eyes wide. She turned sharply to Rose. “How? How did you know about the studio?” she demanded. She didn’t want to believe that Rose and Dave may have been planted by Crocker, but she couldn’t erase any possibilities. Rose stared back at her, a little scared.

“I can see the future,” she admitted. 

“You can _what_?”

Rose gulped. “I’ve had dreams. Ever since I was little. They tell me what’s going to happen in the future. I had a dream about this a month ago, but I didn’t know how to tell you…”

Jade frowned slightly. Rose was smart, and she was smart enough to lie, but she was still young. It was easy to tell when she lied about knowing what a large word meant, or when she blamed Dave for the broken vase. Jade had learned her tells by now. So either she was playing a long, clever game, or she was honestly telling the truth.

“I know you are having trouble believing me,” Rose said. “Everyone does. But… you were raised by an alien pretending to be a human woman. This isn’t much weirder than that, is it?”

“I guess not!” Jade let out a sigh, then a small bit of laughter. “To think I adopted myself a fortune teller!”

“I prefer the word seer,” Rose corrected, her cheeks burning in embarrassment. “Are you mad?”

“Not at all,” Jade assured her. She reached over and pulled her surrogate daughter into a hug. “On the contrary! I think the future’s looking very bright indeed.”


	4. Chapter 4

Jade hated sitting in on board meetings, but she couldn’t deny their importance. She was not as naturally business-minded as she might have liked to lead the general public into thinking. She was an inventor first and foremost - it just so happened that business was the stage on which she was forced to wage her battles against her mother. 

So, like it or not, she needed the board meetings. She needed the advice of the people there, because even if they were, for the most part, unpleasant and out for their own interests, their interests were at least keeping her company afloat. In that way, she was able to trust them.

Unfortunately, today, they did not bring good news. 

“SkaiaNet’s stocks are falling - fast. With the rate at which Crockercorp is releasing new technologies…”

“So we can just release more!” Jade said, pounding her fist on the table. “I have a lot of blueprints ready - hands-free computing devices that will revolutionize the industry. If we can get those out on the market before she catches wind of them...”

“To be frank, Ms. English, the blueprints are revolutionary, but we aren’t ready to mass produce them yet. The cost to us would make them far too expensive for the average consumer, and Crocker Corp would undoubtedly find a way to make it economical before we could…”

Jade sat back in her chair, running a hand through her hair. This meeting wasn’t going as she had hoped. Dave and Rose sat off to the side, thirteen now. She had been hoping to give them a sense of what it was like to run a company, but instead, it was looking as though she would have no company to pass onto them. 

“So what do you propose we do?” Jade asked. “Just let the company fail?”

“I propose some budget cuts,” said another board member. “If we cut out the parts of the company that aren’t making money, then we can save the rest of it.”

“That means firing people.” Jade frowned. “A lot of people. What segments are you suggesting we cut?”

“Well, perhaps our baked goods departments could stand to be lost. We aren’t anywhere close to competing with Crockercorp in that segment, after all, and-”

“But then we give Crockercorp a monopoly over baked goods!” she snapped. “Everybody will be forced to buy her brand of food! She can do whatever she wants with it!”

“To be frank, Miss English, I don’t see what that has to do with our company. She nearly has a monopoly to begin with.”

“It has everything to do with our company! Do you think that I made this company to earn money?” 

The board members frowned, looking to each other with concerned expressions. Jade sat back in her chair and let out a sigh. Of course they wouldn’t understand. They supported her company - not her cause. As soon as it was no longer profitable, they would be off to their next project.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “What else could we cut?”

Jade was mostly quiet for the rest of the meeting, listening as the board members hypothetically gutted her company. Cut budgets, lowered salaries, and in the end she would be left with a company that had lost its heart. SkaiaNet: a business reduced to making cheap electronics like alarm clocks and wristwatches, which had sat back and let Crockercorp have everything else.

Even the thought of it left her sick to her stomach - but surely that was better than nothing?

She decided to take the rest of the day off so that she could think of her next plan of action in the comfort of her home study. She didn’t speak a word to Dave and Rose until they were in the car. 

“Rose,” she said finally, softly. “The cuts they proposed - do they actually work? Does it keep my company on the map?”

Rose stared at her lap. She wasn’t keen on answering.

“Rose?”

“No. They don’t. Your company is going to fail.”

“Soon?”

Rose was quiet for a moment. “The visions are hazy, sometimes. But… I believe that the timing depends on your actions from here on out. But no matter what, the result is the same.”

Jade’s knuckles were white around her steering wheel. “Why didn’t you let me know sooner?” she asked. “How long have you known?”

“Since the day you adopted us. I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want to stop you from doing your work while it was still important.” There was a weighted pause, and Jade didn’t respond, sending there was more to the story than that. “Also… I was scared that, if you knew you wouldn’t have a company to pass onto us, you’d send us back.”

Jade could feel her heart cracking. “I would never do that to you, Rose. You have a home with me for as long as you want it. Both of you.”

“So what’re you gonna do?” Dave asked her. “About the company?”

The car stopped at a light, and Jade heaved out a huge sigh. Like it or not, he deserved to know the truth. “I have no idea.”

\------

Jade laid awake tossing and turning that night, trying to rack her brain for a solution. Rose had told her that her company was doomed to failure. Her board members’ plan wouldn’t work. She could hold out until the bitter end, knowing that even her best efforts would be useless… or she could act now.

She could sell the company assets ahead of time, to create a nice retirement package for herself, and a solid college fund for Dave and Rose. The only problem was that her company was huge - only one company had the means of buying her out, and that was out of the question. 

Of course, she could try and do it bit by bit, but that would cause her investors to lose faith, and the value of her company would plummet. She’d have to fire people just to keep it afloat for long enough to sell it, leaving her valued employees without a source of income. It wasn’t fair to them. Plus, with a company as big as SkaiaNet failing… well, she didn’t want to think of the effect that’d have on the economy. It would be just the thing that Crocker would want. She could likely single-handedly turn things around, when she felt like it, and thus hail her company as America’s savior. Even the thought of it left a bad taste in her mouth. 

But what choice did Jade have? No matter how she looked at it, Crocker won, and she lost. The only difference was that in one instance, only her own pride was hurt. In the other instance, her pride was hurt along with nearly everybody else. There was no happy ending.

As she fell asleep, Jade dreamt of a different scenario. One where she was young again, free from the aches and pains of an aging body. She could modify the world at her whim and twirl planets on her fingertips. She was powerful. She was a goddess. 

In her dreams, there was nothing she couldn’t do. There was no option she couldn’t pursue. 

But when Jade woke in the morning, she understood that there was really only one thing she could do.

\-----

Jade’s lips were pressed thin as she was finally ushered into her mother’s office. It had been years since she had last seen the woman in person. To be honest, Jade had hoped to keep it that way - or at least have their next meeting be when she struck the finishing blow to CrockerCorp. 

Unfortunately, today was the opposite scenario. 

Betty Crocker flashed a smile as Jade took the seat opposite from her, baring pointed teeth that Jade was pretty sure no human could have. “Well, well, well, look what the catfish dragged in,” she said. “Never thought I’d see you again. Startin’ to look a bit old there, kiddo.”

“And I see that you have not changed one bit,” Jade remarked. And indeed she hadn’t - not a single wrinkle on her face, hair still as dark as night. She could have easily passed for Jade’s daughter rather than the reverse.

Crocker cackled, leaning back in her chair. “Yeah, yeah. And what exactly do I owe the plea-shore of your company to? You miss your old mommy? Finally coming to beg for my forgiveness?

“I’m dissolving my company,” Jade said, stomach churning at the words. “I came here to strike a deal with you.”

That piqued Crocker’s interest. She leaned forward, folding her jeweled fingers together. “Oh yeah? What sorta deal?”

“I sell you everything my company owns for a reasonable price,” Jade said, writing a number on a piece of paper and sliding it forward so that Crocker could see it. “All of my factories. All of my stores. All of my patents for inventions that are currently cold by my company. All yours, all for this price I know you can afford.”

Crocker looked at the sheet of paper and raised her eyebrows. “Pennies out of my pocket,” she said. “What’s the catch?”

“You offer employment to any of my former employees who ask for it,” Jade said, leveling her best determined expression. “Without question. You find a place for them in your company, and you match the salary they were making.”

She had to hope they would be safe, that Crocker would not be as nearly as dominating a boss as she was a mother. But this was the best that Jade could do for them.

Betty Crocker laughed, throwing her head back, her teeth glinting. “You were always too soft, girlie. This is why you’re never gonna win against me. You gotta be ruthless if you wanna make it in my world.”

“I’d rather lose.” Jade’s expression was cold. “Are you going to accept the deal or not?”

Betty Crocker leaned back in her chair, crossing one leg over the other as she considered her options. Even without being able to read thoughts, Jade was fairly certain she knew the dilemma her so-called “mother” was facing. Let her end her company on her own terms? Not something that Crocker was likely to allow on it’s own. But taking the deal meant seeing everything that Jade had worked so hard for turned against her. It would mean seeing her ideas mass produced and sold with the red Crockercorp logo plastered on the side. It would give Betty Crocker the tools to make a mockery of Jade’s rebellion - and in the end, Jade knew she couldn’t resist that.

“You gotta deal,” Crocker said, standing. She held out a hand. “Shake on it?”

Jade stood and took her hand, cold, clammy, as though she were doing a deal with a salamander. It was only years of training that kept her from showing her disgust.

“So tell me, how’s it feel knowing you lost?” Crocker asked as their hands fell from each other. “Nothing standing between me and this puny planet now.”

“I wouldn’t say there’s nothing,” Jade corrected, straightening her back. She thought to Dave and Rose, waiting for her at home. Dave, who was starting to take to video cameras, who was starting to go around the house and try to catch Rose doing something embarrassing on tape. Rose, who was scribbling away furiously in her journals, whose first attempt at a novel featured an evil fish queen as the antagonist. They might not inherit her company, but Jade had no doubt that they would inherit this battle. 

“This is just a strategic retreat. We’ll be back for you.”


	5. Chapter 5

Rose was now twenty-three years old. She had a journalism degree, funded by the funds left over from SkaiaNet’s dissolution, and while she was spending time writing articles for a local paper, she was also working out the details to a publishing contract, after a well-placed call from the former CEO of SkaiaNet. 

She had moved out of her childhood home several years ago, but today she was back to say goodbye for the last time.

As she pulled up to the house, behind the moving van, she was unsurprised to see Dave’s car already there - an old beat-up Chevrolet that he had spray-painted some flame decals onto. It was hard to believe that this was the same man who was directing his first full-length motion picture, but Dave had a flair for defying expectations. 

He was the one who answered the door, a pair of sunglasses perched on the bridge of his nose. “Hey, you made it,” he said. “Fashionably late, as always.”

“And I see that you were annoyingly on time, as always,” Rose said, pulling him into a hug. 

“Would the two of you stop sniping at each other for once?” came Jade’s voice from just down the hallway. “There’s a heavy box of books over here and I don’t see any one of you young whippersnappers helping me with it!”

Dave rolled his eyes and walked down the hallway, and Rose followed suit. Jade was standing in the middle of the room, hands on her hips. She was looking older than Rose remembered her being - her hair was now almost entirely silver, her laugh lines more pronounced. 

“Hey, look, I could do without the whippersnapper comments,” Dave said. “Like, for one, I’m still pretty sure that you could carry me bridal style halfway across the country.”

“Oh, I’m getting old,” Jade said with a creaking laugh. “I think it’d be only a quarter of the way now!”

Rose smiled, bending down to examine one of the boxes. It was labelled “gadgets.” “Might I ask what has prompted your sudden interest to move?” she asked. “Of course, Dave and I are happy to support you in any way you may need…”

“Oh, don’t worry about me. I’ll be far away from anywhere you could support me. Don’t want to be a liability. Besides, I’ve got a grandkid on the way don’t I?” She winked at Rose, who started for a moment before she remembered the vision she had shared with Jade a year ago. A small baby, appearing through mysterious means, destined for Jade to raise him. “I don’t think I could defend him here like I used to defend the two of you. Bones are getting too achey.”

“I assure you that we would help, Jade,” she said, frowning. Jade waved her off.

“No need to distract yourselves. You remember the goal, right?”

“Yeah,” Dave said. “Destroy the Batterwitch before she destroys the world, right?”

“Right. Good job.” Jade clapped him on the shoulder. “So focus on that. Don’t worry about me.”

“But Jade…”

Jade shook her head, cutting Rose off, and gestured them both close. When they were within arm’s reach, she pulled both of them into a tight hug, though Rose couldn’t help but notice that her grip wasn’t what it used to be. Even Jade English aged.

“It’s all up to the two of you now,” she said. “I know you’re going to shine.”


End file.
